Ravens shouldn't be interested in free agent Brandon Marshall

The New York Jets have released wide receiver Brandon Marshall, allowing him to enter the free agent market after 11 seasons in the NFL. With the Baltimore Ravens needing help at wide receiver and their love of aging players at the position, it might make sense for the two to get together.

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I’m going to buck a trend here and say they shouldn’t. First, Marshall still has plenty of life left in him. At 32 years old, Marshall is only one year removed from a 1,502-yard, 14-touchdown campaign with the Jets. That type of production is worth serious cash.

It’s not as if Marshall wasn’t wanted in New York, either. The Jets reportedly offered him an extension, but he turned it down.

One source close to Brandon Marshall texted: "Really appreciate Jets for giving him the opportunity and they did offer him an extension."

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On the open market, many teams should come calling for Marshall. Unlike some of his veteran counterparts, Marshall has put together No. 1-type numbers in recent years despite a hot-and-cold quarterback situation. There is likely some team that would be willing to pay Marshall well more than the $7.5 million the Jets released him for, which should price him out of Baltimore’s limited range; they have only $13.8 million in available cap space.

That also doesn’t take into account Marshall’s other issues. Marshall has nine reported incidents of domestic violence against women and three arrests for domestic violence, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. For a team that went through the Ray Rice scandal and came out on the other side saying they would avoid players with character flaws, it would be an about-face to their public stance.

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Don’t get me wrong, I still firmly believe Marshall has a few more seasons of top talent left in him, and the move reeks of the Ravens’ previous dealings. But if they can get past the character concerns, adding Marshall would still result in not having enough money to re-sign their own players.

If it does happen, it would take a concerted effort from Baltimore to cut players and make room as well as an obvious decision from Marshall to come to the Ravens the way Steve Smith did. It’s just too many factors in the way of a business deal.

I’d much rather see money get invested into locking up their own players and grabbing bargain free agents. It isn’t as sexy of an offseason, but it is how Baltimore has gotten as far as they have.